One Year Later. How did the plywood charcoal drawn floor hold up??Do you all remember my laundry room floor? The one that I convinced my husband we should cover in plywood and use as a canvas for me to draw on? Well, friends… a year has passed.

One Year Later… how did the artwork I drew on our laundry room floor hold up??

Do you all remember my laundry room floor? The one that I convinced my husband we should cover in plywood and use as a canvas for me to draw on?

(If you don't recall how that progressed you can read all about it HERE)

Well, friends… a year has passed.

And I am happy to report to you that the floors AND the charcoal drawing still look great!

There are a few slightly scuffed places on the corners of the plywood boards and a couple of little spots that look dirty no matter how many times I clean and mop. I've chosen to see these not as imperfections but rather as additional layers of special traits that make this floor completely unique (we can debate later on whether that is optimism or denial).

I took some pictures so you can see for yourself how well the floor has held up, dispite it's “specialness”.

BUT.

Before I go any further and debut the pictures I feel that I need to clarify something.

I did no clean before grabbing my camera.

Really. I'm not trying to be modest. Nor am I flippantly saying, “ohhhh please excuse the mess”, while knowing fullwell that I had actually spent the last hour scrubbing every surface so that I wouldn't be embarrassed by what our living leaves in its wake.

Nope. None of that.

While in the middle of folding a load of laundry this afternoon I looked down at the floor and was struck with the desire to share with you how fabulously it has stood up to 12 months of our wear and tear.

There was no staging of towels or lighting candles or sweeping up pet hair. What you are about to see is exactly what the room looks like if you were to spontaneously stop over right now for a visit and a cup of coffee.

I do my best to keep our house tidy and organized day by day (not an easy task when you struggle with constant pain and fatigue). And since I work so hard to maintain this home I know that the pictures you're about to see do not depict a filthy embarrassing room. Still, a small part of me cringed over placing these less-than-Pinterest-worthy photos out here for all to see. Maybe I should have swept the floor first? Or shaken the dirt out of the rugs? Washed the window and mirror? Put out a clean towel??

Then I remember that this is our HOME and we live life here. It’s silly to pretend or hide the realness of that.

While I love pretty pictures as much as the next girl, and yes, I could have improved on this room and spiffed it up for you my special company, I simply do not have the time. My plate is FULL. But I so badly want to share this with you!

Ok, enough rambling… time for pictures!

I've been really pleased with the way the floor turned out from the beginning. But I'll admit that I had some concerns about how long it could survive all of the foot traffic and dirt, the not so gentle cat claws and dog paws, the piles of muddy jeans, wet towels, and the repeated washings.

We tend to be hard on our floors!

While you're here let me show show you around a bit and share a couple additions we've made to the room over this past year.

Like these cafe curtains.

Living in the country I've come to prefer windows free of curtains and drapes. In most of the rooms there is not a need for privacy so it's been easy to allow the windows to remain as they are. Even in our master bedroom we've chosen to keep our windows bare and enjoy the moonlight shining in at night and to see the stars as we fall asleep. Mornings have been pleasant as well as we’ve been woken gradually with the rising sun throughout these spring and summer months.

However, we had a large gathering at the house not long ago and I realized that guests would be making use of this restroom and would also be mingling in the yard and walking past this window.

Of course I came to this realization the night before our party. No time at that point to get fancy.

A little spring loaded curtain rod from the dollar store, some clips I had in a box of craft supplies, a tea towel from the drawer of our buffet table and the magic of scissors … ta-da! Cafe curtains!

They offered enough privacy for our guests and my family to feel comfortable using the restroom while still allowing plenty of natural light into the room. Mission accomplished... and in less than 30minutes! Initially these curtains were simply a temporary solution to get us through the weekend of the party but I really like them. I think I'll keep them up a while longer.

And here is a glimps of our refinished farm sink! I'm still in love with this piece.

Mike and I both agree that the time and effort we expended to make sure this sink would be functional and fit into our space was absolutely worth it. It's depth has been extremely useful more than once, and even Mike agrees with me that it just looks SO perfect here. You can read more about our adventure finding and refinishing this piece HERE.

This is a hardworking space that holds a lot of easy to reach necessities for us.

The large clothespin on the wall was found shortly after we moved in. It holds hangers so I can easily access them as I pull clothes from the washing machine and hang nearby to air dry. It also holds the towel I use daily to do a quick dusting of the laundry machines as needed and to quickly wipe up spills (I use this room to fill Tipsy’s water bowl and my plant watering bucket and tend to get a bit messy with all that water).

The wooden tool box belonged to my grandfather and lost its dowl handle long ago. I still love the patina-ed wood and the memories it brings me, and it quite useful here. In it you'll find a small piece of pottery (made by my artistic daughter many years ago) that holds the laundry bar used for treating stains. The pretty blue metal box contains items we often need to grab as we head out the door to the garage. And the glass jar with the wooden lid is filled with the very important doggie biscuits and treats for our sweet Tipsy.